I managed to put things off to the side in my head to get through the next two weeks, until three days before the last day of school. I was helping my neighbor Kim, who lived across the hall from me two doors down, pack up her room. Kim and I were talking about her French penal, her grandfather, WWII etc. when we came to a lull in the conversation. At which point Kim asked me what I thought of my room. I said it was okay; she wrinkled up her nose and said, "Oh! I hated that room! I couldn't get out of there fast enough and I still don't like to walk past it." At which point we just stared at each other for a moment. I must have had a peculiar look on my face because then she said, "You've seen it too." I just said yeah, and then Kim proceeded to tell me her story.
When Kim first came to UW a year and a half before, she was assigned to room 217. Half way through the semester she awoke one night because she heard a step on the floor (the floor is tile and she didn't have a rug like me.). Standing in the middle of her room looking startled as though he were just caught in the act of something was a tall man in a dark suit. He was bald, with a long sharp nose and black eyes that watched her as though he were surprised to see her and yet he had been walking towards her.
我將這件事情暫且放在一邊,期望能安然度過接下來的兩周,但就在離放假還有3天,我?guī)秃臀宜奚岣袅藘蓚€宿舍的金收拾她的房間的時候,事情發(fā)生了。當時金正和我聊法國的刑法制度,她的祖父以及二戰(zhàn)之類的東西,忽然我倆陷入了沉默。因為金問我覺得我的房間怎么樣。我說還好。她皺皺鼻子說:“哦,我討厭那個房間!我不愿進那個房間也不喜歡從那走過。”這時我們倆只是看著彼此。我臉上的表情一定很奇怪,因為她對我說:“你也見過他了。”我說是的,金接著給我講她的故事。
一年半前她剛到懷俄明大學時,她就被指派到217房間。學期進行到一半的時候,有一晚她被腳步聲吵醒(地板是磚面的而她沒像我一樣鋪地毯)。房間中央站著一個高個子的穿著深色衣服的男人,表情驚訝,像是正要干什么卻被人逮個正著。他是禿頭,長著大而挺的鼻子,黑色的眼睛正盯著她瞧,仿佛看到她很驚訝似的,但之前他明明是向她的方向走的。